Thugs come in all colors, shapes, sizes and sports, and Thursday night, Simon was a thug, pure and simple. But for too many of us, the sight of large black men brawling on a basketball court is a riot. The sight of white men brawling on a hockey rink is all part of the game, tough guys blowing off steam. If you think race doesn’t play a factor in that thinking, you are lying to yourself.
Yet, in the NBA, the gangsta culture is allowed to exist everywhere but on the court. In the NHL, it exists only on the ice.
The so-called “thug” league takes a much harder line on in-game violence than the NHL ever has or ever will. In the NBA, a punch leads to automatic suspension. In the NHL, it gets you a job. And maybe a featured spot on a league-sanctioned videotape.
We all know that, we accept it, and - admit it - we generally like it.

The cozy and unseemly affiliation between the executive director of the union and the people who run the NHL is coming to an end. Saskin is out of time. Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly are out of luck. They’ll have to find a new boy. As if….
Saskin’s departure will not be the end of it, not by a long shot. The group of players led by Chris Chelios, Matt Schneider, Dwayne Roloson, Eric Lindros and now-retired Trent Klatt, will continue to press for information that will prove suspected direct communication between agents and NHL officials during the lockout. If such proof is uncovered, these agents will be decertified, and thus unable to continue to represent NHL players. This is the next bombshell.

But those of us who consider trading away Drury to have been a monumental misjudgment the Avs have been attempting to recover from since should stop talking as if nothing good came of it. Stastny did. And the Avs, including Pierre Lacroix, who knew which year Stastny would be in the draft pool, deserve credit for that.
Stastny is going for sole possession of an NHL rookie record today, when he attempts to extend his point streak to 18 games and break a tie with Teemu Selanne. The Finnish Flash’s 17-game streak came at the end of his spectacular, 76-goal, 1992-93 rookie season at Winnipeg.
Stastny has been less flashy, but that’s almost part of the point. He is a subtle star, and his stunning on-ice poise and savvy have enabled him to arguably be more productive and impressive as an NHL rookie than he was at DU.

After nearly two seasons sporting the red, black and gold, Heatley has made his risk factor a complete non-issue. Is there anything left to prove for the young star in Ottawa?
Obviously the answer is yes, when the city housing this talent suffers from post-traumatic postseason disorder.
Heatley was given the strictest of mulligans by Senators fans during last season’s foray into the playoffs (envision being handled with pumice-coated kid gloves). After all, he was experiencing his first NHL postseason under major scrutiny. No one was entirely sure how he would react. Heatley’s initial playoff numbers gave the suggestion of a player trying to find his rhythm: Three goals and nine assists in ten games. Not an atrocious showing, but certainly unremarkable.

In the past two months, Rendell has behaved more like a dunce than a leader, more like a man interested in obstructing the process of getting a new arena for Pittsburgh instead of furthering it.
Had this been a Philadelphia franchise in peril, rest assured his actions would not have been so cavalier. Should the Penguins leave for Kansas City, and the belief here is that will not happen, Rendell will be the man most responsible.
As the power broker in these negotiations—the only politician with money to spend—Rendell has behaved recklessly in allowing the process to go as far as it has.

This is a very strange job.
I don’t mean backup goalie. I mean backup goalie for the New Jersey Devils.
There are a couple of other teams in the league, like Vancouver and Calgary, where the No. 1 goalie plays all the time and the backup is just kind of there. He’s forgotten. I don’t mean forgotten like I’m not part of the team. Forgotten because I never get to play games.

After watching the tape the morning after Thursday’s game, I was disgusted. There is absolutely no place in hockey for what I did.

I want to apologize to Ryan Hollweg. I was grateful to learn that Ryan is okay and that he returned to the game. My hope is to reach out to him in the near future.

I want to apologize to my team and Islanders fans everywhere. My actions Thursday night played a major part in our team losing a crucial game. I also want to apologize to the National Hockey League for the damage I have caused this great game of ours.

12:30pm EST
The NHL On NBC Game of the Week
Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings
Available in HD
Play By Play: Mike Emrick
Color: Eddie Olczyk
Inside the Glass: Pierre McGuire
Will air in the following U.S. NHL markets, and in a total of 87.6% of the United States: Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, Atlanta, Florida, Tampa Bay, Chicago, Nashville, Columbus, St. Louis, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Jose, Anaheim, Phoenix, Colorado, Minnesota

Colin Campbell, NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations, conducted a disciplinary hearing this morning with New York Islanders forward Chris Simon, Islanders team representatives and a representative of the National Hockey League Players’ Association.
A decision relative to that hearing has not yet been made. Any report to the contrary is false.

It’s uncertain when a decision will be handed down. There might be concern on the league’s part about how its ruling could affect a criminal probe launched by the office of Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, especially in a situation where neither Hollweg, the Rangers nor the league requested legal intervention.

The NHL also hasn’t announced a launch date for its broadband service, but the league said it would open the broadband feed to anyone for a fee — most likely mirroring the $129 cost of the NHL Center Ice linear service. Customers who already subscribe to Center Ice via satellite or digital cable would receive a rebate.
While Ritter said the league hopes to generate incremental revenue from the broadband service, it’s more a complementary service to coverage from its national TV rights holders Versus and NBC, as well as the various regional sports networks.
“I think we live in a world where people want to access content however they want to access it,” said Ritter, adding that close to 80% of traffic on NHL.com is accessed via broadband connection.

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